Heroes of the New Era
by Gyt Kaliba
Summary: Set thirteen years after the end of DBZ. The Earth is in the same peaceful state that it's enjoyed since the defeat of Majin Boo. However, a new threat is just on the horizon, that will require all of their skill. But the threat is not of the cosmic sort – it comes from within! With the most powerful of it's defenders each aging, it's time for a new set of heroes to take a stand!
1. Prologue - It Begins

**Prologue – It Begins**

Except for the sound of water continually drip-drip-dripping down onto the cavern floor, all was quiet. Deep inside of a mountain, laid a cavern that hadn't been seen by human eyes for over three-hundred years. That had changed when it's sole resident had awakened at last. After a short time however, he had left, upon which the cavern lost all life yet again. It was left unseen.

This changed yet again twenty-three years after his awakening, when the resident returned. The crunch of the man's shoes carved out the silence of the rocky abyss as he walked forward, paying no mind to the dripping water. He had thought that he would never return here once his training had been completed – but the world outside had changed greatly since he'd been gone. It no longer had anything left to offer him.

"It seems there is nothing left to do except burn it all down." The man stood in a large, ornate circle that had been drawn on the ground as he spoke, but his gaze would soon move upward to the stalagmites above head. "Every last piece of it." His hand, which had previously been dangling by the side of his body, would clench into a fist. As ki rapidly began to swell around his body, he smirked, but there was something sad about his smile.

The fist moved so that it was in front of his body now, and opened to show his palm. A small energy ball, barely the size of a ping-pong ball, floated above the skin. Despite it's size, it contained more than enough power to destroy the planet five times over. That would do no good however – he only wanted to raze the planet and rebuild, not destroy. The energy descended back into his palm. It was not yet time to use it, but soon, very soon, it would be.

"Soon, they will all regret having forgotten what true strength is. They will pay for forgetting the pride of the human race. They will pay for having forgotten...me."

* * *

**_Advanced Author's Notes_**

_As a fan of a lot of different authors and entertainment mediums, I always enjoy when the creators take the time to de-construct their work and show what went into various parts of it's creation, as well as listing any references someone might have missed. As such, I like to do the same myself, as a service to any readers out there._

_- Right off of the bat, I'd like to mention that the idea for this fanfiction (or at least, the original basis for it) first came to me a good few years back. The original idea came from two things that I had been pondering - First, I wanted to see a story in which Pan and Oob, the two characters introduced at the end of Z but largely recognized for their GT portrayals, were used more properly. It's no secret that, to most fans, GT just doesn't quite cut it. For me, this is especially true in regards to those two characters, whom I feel have a lot of untapped potential. As such, I wanted to tell a story that sated that need for me, since we may likely never get it out of an official production. Secondly, I wanted to know what a 'full length' DBZ film might be like. Mind you, this idea pre-dated Battle of Gods by a few years, so way before we even knew what the film was about, much less that it was coming at all. As such, the idea of this fanfic originally came from that notion - to tell a story that could somewhat feel like a full-length DBZ film._

_- Continuing off of that tangent, this fanfiction has been continuously delayed for one reason or another. There have been personal issues both writing and non-writing related, but just on the Dragon Ball front there were roads to cross. The main one being that I wanted to watch all of the franchise - DB, Z, GT, and all of the movies and specials, in their original Japanese versions before I could begin writing. This obviously took me a good while to complete, but I finally did that a year or so ago. New material kept on coming out on top of that however, that I wanted to pick apart and see what fit into my vision for this story and what didn't, so that took further time. Most recently of course was Battle of Gods, which not only gave me a few more ideas for this story, but also forced some mild retconning of my original idea for the story. Those will be detailed as we move along._

_- There are a few more notations I'd like to make concerning the 'original Japanese version', but I'll save those for the first chapter proper, where they are more apparent and applicable._

_- On this prologue itself, I myself am not very happy with how it's turned out as of now. The writing on the non-dialogue part is more or less fine, but the dialogue of the 'unseen character' feels too cliche. I'm trying to preserve a sense of mystery of course, but at the same time, I don't want the character to sound like every other villain ever done either. So expect this portion of the story to get an eventual re-writing, if I can figure out how to make it more to what I'm wanting here._


	2. Chapter 1 - Mountainside Training

**Dragon Ball: Heroes of the New Era**

**Chapter 1. Mountainside Training**

"Did you hear that?" Midori asked, her old body moving faster than most people would think it could, as she leaned her head out the window of their small house.

"I can't hear anything with you shuffling about like that." Her husband Aka replied from his favorite chair, in which he'd been reading the weekend paper. He barely had any hair left on his head, and what little he did had long been gray, a fact he attributed more to his wife's nosey nature than to his age.

"It sounded like thunder, but there's not a cloud in the sky." She still had her upper body leaning out of the window from over the sink, her eyes straining as she looked around.

"Get back inside then, you old bat." He grumbled, trying to find where he'd been reading. "What kinda person sticks their head out a window when they think it's thundering."

"I just told you it isn't thunder, you ugly old coot." She scowled as she popped back inside just long enough to glare at him. "But it does _sound_ like it, sort o – there it is again!"

Aka sighed, though he did hear the loud booming sound that emanated from somewhere in the sky. He always heard it, but unlike his wife, he preferred to mind his own business. "We've been over this before, Midori, it's coming from up on that mountain. You know it, I know it, just leave it alone."

"Still..." She grumbled, shutting the window and moving back through the house to sit on the couch across from him. "We used to live up on that mountain too, until that meteor hit our house while we were out shopping. And suddenly, all the way from West City, Capsule Corp. re-reimburses us for the damages, but buys the entire mountain's land." She sipped her tea and looked to her husband for his reaction. "You can't tell me you aren't the least bit curious what they get up to on that mountain."

"I can, 'cause I'm not." He said simply, reaching over to take his own cup and have a drink.

Midori gave him an exasperated look before giving up and staring at the TV that was currently off. She knew she should just give it up, but she had to ask one more question, as yet another boom shook the sky outside. "What do you think is making that noise anyway?"

Sighing once again, Aka adjusted his glasses, and decided to answer in the hopes that it would shut her up. "Heavy machinery, I'd say. Really can't be much else, can it?"

* * *

Up on Mount Frypan, three pieces of 'heavy machinery' were circling each other in the air. The tallest and eldest of the three, a man with spiky black hair that didn't look like it had ever seen a comb, had a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"That wasn't bad, you guys are really coming along." Goku said, stretching a little bit as he floated many feet off of the ground, wearing his now standard blue gi, his iconic orange long since abandoned.

The second male of the trio smiled, his mohawk waving in the wind. "Well, you have been training us for years now Goku." Oob said, glancing towards his training partner. "It'd be a little disappointing for you if we weren't able to keep up at this speed at least, wouldn't it?"

"That's right Grandpa." The third and final person in the air replied, as she moved a strand of her black, shoulder-length hair out of her face. "This is easy, give us a challenge already!" Pan complained, hating that they were wasting time on a warm-up.

"A challenge?" Goku asked bemused, scratching his cheek idly with a finger. "Hmm...well, I guess you two are ready for somethin' a little more serious." His grin turned into one slightly more devious, but still very playful. "You two ready to go all out?"

"That's what we've been saying!" Pan yelled back, though she looked back to Oob. "Ready partner?" She gave him a playful wink, and when his response was simply blushing, looking away, and nodding, she pouted.

"Here goes then. Hyaaah!" Goku's arms flexed out by his sides, and in an instant his body transformed. His hair stood up and turned golden yellow, as did his aura, while the pupils of his eyes however turned a shade of green. He didn't stop there however, as the air rippled viciously around him and shot out towards his students. Goku kept raising his ki higher and higher until he was at his max – well, at least as far as he could go without going Super Saiyan 2.

"Hope you two are ready." He chided playfully, watching them both go into a defensive position. "Let's go!"

Without any further warning, Goku rushed at both of his students at top speed, but they were ready. A loud boom not unlike the ones the old couple had been hearing shook through the cold air, as a flurry of super-fast blows were traded amongst the three fighters. Punches and kicks moved faster than the eye could see, but even though it was two-on-one, it was clear Goku had the advantage.

_Goku truly is amazing_. Oob thought to himself as he ducked a punch aimed at his head, trying his luck with a return blow to Goku's midriff. _This is only a fraction of what he's capable of, and it's all I can do to keep from getting knocked clear through a mountain!_

To Oob's right, Pan was thinking the exact same thing as she blocked one of her grandfather's kicks with an arm, while trying to find an opening to strike back. _G-Geez Grandpa, you really aren't holding back._ She smiled, then frowned slightly. _Grandma's gonna be mad if you knock us through that old couple's house again though_. She also had her doubts whether Bra's mom would be nice enough to cover it up again and buy more land for them to fight in.

"Not bad you two, but I know you can do better." Goku said, suddenly propelling himself forward with both arms held rigidly out by his sides, barring both of them hard in the face as he rushed by them. He flew a good distance away before turning around to face them with a grin.

"Oww!" Pan writhed in mid-air while holding her face. "Dammit Grandpa, you're going to pay for that one!"

"Are you okay Pan?" Oob said with a grimace of his own, though he recovered from the pain faster.

Pan shot the slightly older male a look of glee that made him blush again – clearly she was very pleased that he was so concerned about her. "I'll be all right. We need to focus on taking him down anyway. Speaking of which...I have an idea."

Goku was close enough that he had heard Pan's yell, but when she and Oob began to speak at a normal volume, he quirked an eyebrow curiously. "Oh? They're planning something, heh. This should be good."

"You really think that'll work?" Oob asked. He didn't seem so sure.

"Do you have a better plan?" Pan retorted.

"Not really. I guess it's all or nothing then." Oob smiled. "Go for it."

Pan nodded, and transformed into a Super Saiyan now herself; it wasn't near the spectacle that her grandfather's transformation was though. "Here I come Grandpa, you better be ready!" She flew straight at her grandpa and stopped just short of meeting him in hand-to-hand combat, and instead began to lob energy blast after energy blast at him from short range.

"Too easy!" Goku laughed, not even bothering to dodge them and instead just swatted them away with equally quick hand motions. He was slightly disappointed though, he had expected a better plan from his students than this.

"Kaaa-"

Then he felt Oob's ki rapidly rising from where he floated some distance away, pushing past where Pan had been able to reach in power yet. Seeing what their plan was now, Goku smiled – it wasn't a horrible gambit, in fact it reminded him vaguely of what he and Piccolo had done against his brother so long ago.

"Meee-"

The momentary distraction of Oob's power-up allowed Pan to fire one much larger blast at her Grandpa's chest, before she rushed in and began to fight him physically again.

"Haaa-"

"Good thinking Pan, but I don't think it's gonna work." Goku said as they rotated in the air, going along with Pan's motions for now. It seemed like she was trying to control the fight so that his back would be facing Oob, as if that would prevent him from dodging away from the attack in time. He threw a hard kick towards his grandaughter's head -

"Meee-"

- and she jumped above it, placing her hands on his leg and repelling back over his body so that she was in front again, smirking as she did so.

"Eh?" Goku blinked in confusion, as he turned around in what seemed like slow motion.

"HAAA!" Oob's Kamehameha ripped through the air towards Goku and Pan, moving at a high velocity. He hoped Pan knew what she was doing. This kind of attack would only put down Goku slightly, but it could seriously hurt her if she took it unprepared.

"Think fast Grandpa!" Pan said with glee, even with the huge energy beam gaining speed on her from behind. With Goku's face turned towards her, she held her hands open in front of her face, her palms facing her. "TAIYO-KEN!"

"Ahh!" Goku winced, not managing to close his eyes in time. He froze in mid-air, clutching his face not unlike Pan had been doing earlier.

"Gotcha Grandpa!" Pan shouted victoriously as she zipped out of the way of the Kamehameha just as it moved to where she'd been floating.

"C-Crap!" Goku yelled, and moved by reflex more than anything else. He pressed two fingers to his forehead and disappeared.

"..." The look of jubilation disappeared off of Pan's face slowly as she saw her Grandpa disappear, only to feel his ki re-appear behind her. Her mind barely had time to register this before a hard kick landed in the small of her back, sending her flying...right into the Kamehameha's path.

His eyes still closed and his fingers having never left his forehead, Goku disappeared again.

"P-Pan!" Oob yelled in shock, but he didn't have any time to help her even if he'd wanted to. His eyes caught Goku re-appearing right next to him and he could even read what Goku was going to do. Try as he might however, he couldn't move fast enough to stop it. A spinning kick from his sensei connected with the back of his head, and he too was sent flying towards the ground.

Oob crash-landed hard onto the ground, leaving a small crater. A few moments later, Pan fell a few feet away, landing hard enough to kick up a large dust cloud.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Goku floated slowly to the ground in-between them, still rubbing his eyes vigorously like he was trying to get something out of them. He _hated_ getting hit with the Taiyo-ken, but not quite as much as he hated needles.

His feet touched the ground with a light 'tap', and Goku shook the last bit of pain out of his eyes as well as reverting back to his base form. "Hmm?" He looked slowly back and forth between Pan and Oob, both of whom simply lay there twitching.

"Not bad you two, that one almost got me." He complimented them both with a big grin, though he wasn't entirely sure they were conscious to hear him. "Maybe I should take it up to Super Saiyan 2 next time, what do you think?"

They groaned painfully in reply. Apparently they were still conscious after all, huh.

A new kind of rumbling suddenly filled the air. It wasn't as loud as the impacts of their fighting, but the force behind it was much more powerful. Goku sheepishly reached down and rubbed his stomach. "I wonder what Chi Chi's cooking for lunch."

* * *

**_Advanced Author's Notes_**

_As a fan of a lot of different authors and entertainment mediums, I always enjoy when the creators take the time to de-construct their work and show what went into various parts of it's creation, as well as listing any references someone might have missed. As such, I like to do the same myself, as a service to any readers out there._

_- First things first, I want to properly set the timeframe that this fanfiction is taking place in. As said in the story description, it's set thirteen years after the end of DBZ. That means thirteen years more or less from when Goku left the Tournament with Oob, not thirteen years after Boo's defeat - don't forget, there was already a ten year gap in-between those two events. So this story takes place twenty-three years after Boo's defeat. It is also completely disregarding Dragon Ball GT, so the Pan and Oob you'll see here are not exactly the same as those seen in GT, as none of those events happened here. If you were to go by a series timeline (more on that in a bit), this story would take place roughly in November or December of Age 797._

_- In regards to the timeline as well, here are some semi-important character ages to keep in mind, though they won't be super relevant to the story - Goku is 60 years old (roughly, as in ignoring Time Chamber visits and time spent dead); Gohan is 40; Goten is 30; Oob is 23; Vegeta is 65 (again, ignoring Time Chamber discrepancies for the most part); Bulma is 64; Trunks is 31; Bra is 16; Piccolo is (roughly) 44; Kuririn is 61; Marron is 26; Yamcha is 64; Tenshinhan is 64; and Roshi is 367. Most of these ages are based on the timeline guide by Herms on Kanzenshuu (which can be found here), but for characters that don't really have birth dates listed, educated guesses were made. Again, they're mostly un-important, but I do like to throw out bonus information like this._

_- The dottering old couple was a gag that I wasn't sure about, but as I wrote on about them for a little bit, I grew to enjoy them enough that I wish there was more to do with them. But alas, they're just here for a punchline provided after the scene skip. Hopefully they amuse you as much as they amused me though. Oh, and in keeping with Dragon Ball name traditions, their names are 'puns' of a sort. Midori (which is Japanese for 'green') came to me first, just as a random name to use. Once I remembered the meaning of the name though, I went with it and named her husband Aka (or 'Red')._

_- Seeing as how they live near where Goku and the others do, out in the boondocks as it were, I originally had given Aka a more redneck-like speech quirk. I ended up dropping that though, given how closely together his dialogue and Goku's (who also has this dialect quirk) were in this chapter. I didn't want it to wear out it's welcome so soon._

_- For those of you scratching your head, wondering when the heck Goku ever had a vocal quirk like that - it comes primarily from the original Japanese version. It's not quite the same as how we in the US normally think of a Southern dialect, but it does tend to give him lazier versions of words - things like "somethin'" instead of "something", for example._

_- As long as we're on the topic of the dub versus the original version, I may as well lay this out right now as welll - while this fanfiction is primarily being written in the vein of the original version, it's being written by a guy who grew up on the FUNimation dub, and still enjoys it for what it is even today. Therefore, I'm striving for something that hopefully can be enjoyed by people on both sides of the spectrum - something more akin to the Kai dub, I suppose. That said, I am however sticking to the original Japanese names for (most) characters where it's applicable. So rather than Krillin, you'll eventually see 'Kuririn'. There will also likely be cases of Son Goku popping up._

_- As a side note however, there's not necasarilly anything wrong about the dub's 'Buu' and 'Uub' however. Their names are perfectly fine either way, but for my own purposes when thinking of the Japanese version, I prefer 'Boo' and 'Oob'._

_- Now for a completely different tangent: power levels. There may be some out there who wonder why Pan didn't automatically go Super Saiyan when Goku did, or why Oob isn't already as strong as Kid Boo, or various other things like that as we go along. The truth is, quite frankly, I couldn't care less about power levels outside of an extremely basic understanding on them. There won't be anything as crazy as Chaozu suddenly being able to tank a Super Saiyan - I'm just saying that my main concern is going to be the writing and trying to make an enjoyable story. If that has to come at the sacrifice of every single punch not fitting into everyone's power hole examples perfectly, than so be it._

_- Hopefully it doesn't sound like I'm berating anyone, I'm just trying to lay out some 'ground rules' on my story as it were, so that I hopefully don't have to explain them a thousand times over as more chapters come out. :P_

_- Pay close attention to the way Oob and Pan work together, especially the shy attitude Oob has towards her. It's going to be extremely important moving ahead._

_- In case it wasn't obvious enough, that was no 'meteor' that destroyed the old couple's home at some point during the time skip. Goku really needs to be careful when he's smacking people around in mid-air...good thing Bulma's got deep enough pockets to buy a plausible explanation, as well as an entire mountain._

_- The trick Pan and Oob resort to is intentionally similar to what Goku and Piccolo used on Raditz, but I view it more as an homage rather than copying per say. They do mix it up a little bit after all._

_- The 'Taiyo-Ken' that Pan uses on Goku is known as the 'Solar Flare' in the English dub, in case any dub-only readers were unfamiliar with the term._

_- Going back to the 'movie' idea that this fanfiction originated as, I'd like to note that this entire sparring session played out in my mind originally without any dialogue. Instead, I imagined this would be where the 'intro song' would play. Since Battle of Gods went with Head Cha La as it's theme, let's say WE GOTTA POWER would play here._

_- As a final information bonus, I'd like to introduce the 'Voice Corner'. I'm a bit of an odd writer in that I tend to write better when I can imagine a character's voice in my head, so with something based in a prior universe like this one, I tend to 'cast' characters as they come up._

_Goku - Masako Nozawa (Japanese), Sean Schemmel (English)_

_- I'm about equal between both of these portrayals, but since I'm trying to preserve the dialogue as closely to how Goku speaks in Japanese as possible, I'll admit I do have Nozawa in mind more often than not._

_Pan - Yuko Minaguchi (Japanese), Elise Baughman (English)_

_- I'm pretty much equal here as well, but I'm definitely keeping Minaguchi more in mind for moments when Pan is sweet, and Baughman more in mind for her tough moments._

_Oob - Atsushi Kisaichi (Japanese), Sean Michael Teague (English)_

_- While Teague isn't the best actor around, I do find more to enjoy in his performance than I do in Kisaichi's, which is barely memorable at all, so this is definitely a role where I'm keeping the established dub voice more in mind than the Japanese._

_- Aka and Midori, much as they amused me, flowed pretty well without me ever having a voice in mind, and I'm intentionally not listing anything at all for the 'mystery prologue character' yet, so that's it for now. As more characters make their way into the story, I'll list them in this ending part of bonus information._


	3. Chapter 2 - The Upcoming Party

**Chapter 2. The Upcoming Party**

"Oh, be careful Videl, that pot looks like it's about to boil over." Chi Chi said from the opposite end of the kitchen, her hands occupied with the task of preparing the side dishes.

"I'm on it." Videl responded as she finished washing the last small batch of dishes currently in the sink, set them aside to dry, rinsed her hands, and hurried over to the stove. "Hot, hot, hot!" She groaned when she grabbed the handles and moved it off of the burner.

Chi Chi merely smiled and continued her own preperatons, knowing that pain all too well. It was tough enough to prepare food for just Goku, but on the nights when it was more than herself and her husband, she was always grateful to have a helping hand. She knew Videl understood her pain well enough too – feeding a half-Saiyan husband and a half-Saiyan daughter wasn't easy either. 'They still don't eat as much as Goku-sa though', she scowled in thought.

"Do you need any help over there Chi Chi?" Videl asked as she stirred the contents of the pot a bit to make sure it was thoroughly cooked.

"No, I think I can handle it from here. Thank you so much for the help though Videl." Chi Chi said to her daughter-in-law, as she started in on another side-dish of fish. "Why don't you take a break? You've been working in this hot kitchen long enough."

Videl nodded and wiped some sweat from her brow, but she felt a little bad to stop helping. She knew Chi Chi had been cooking almost all day, and she didn't look any worse for wear. She really looked up to her mother-in-law's work ethic, but she just couldn't match her in the cooking department no matter how hard she tried. "I think I'll take Gohan some tea then." She opened the fridge and began to pour a glass.

"Good idea." Chi Chi said, as she de-boned the fish – some of which were larger than her. "A good wife should always tends to her beloved husband's needs. Especially if they were trying for another child."

Videl almost poured the rest of the tea on the floor. "C-Chi Chi?!"

"What?" Chi Chi turned to face her with a mischievous smile. "Pan's old enough to take care of herself for the most part now, you two could definitely handle another baby now. Maybe a little boy this time, someone to take a 'Go' name again. How does Gozar sound to you?"

"Y-You're too much, Chi Chi." Videl laughed nervously, and rubbed the back of her neck. She made a hasty exit upstairs after that, tea in tow. She greatly respected Chi Chi, but sometimes...she could be exasperating.

* * *

Up in his childhood bedroom, Gohan was currently leaning backwards in his computer chair, a pencil balanced on his upper lip as he mused over a problem. It had already been about four months since he'd taken a leave of absence from his teaching job so that he could focus on his research, but he kept running into snags. Then again, attempting to make scientific sense out of how ki worked wasn't exactly normal studies. There weren't any old researches on this that he could reference, so a lot of it came down to his own experience and guesses.

The idea had first struck him about a year before when he and Videl had been reminiscing about the good old days and how they first met. She had made a comment about how she still didn't really understand how people were able to fly, even while being capable of it herself, much less how they were capable of harnessing their power into energy blasts. Gohan started to explain it all in the same way that Piccolo had explained it to him all those many years before, but it still went over her head. It wasn't until that moment that Gohan realized that there was currently no way to abstractly explain ki energy to someone. Even his wife, who was surrounded by plenty of people who could use it, didn't completely get it; and even he, who had been using ki since the age of four and now had three PhD's, couldn't explain it in terms that made it possible for everyone to understand.

After agonizing over it for some time, he had come to the conclusion that before he could explain it perfectly to someone completely foreign to the concept, he would first need to find out how to explain it scientifically – this was about as far as he had gotten thus far. "Ugh, this is maddening." He groaned, as he sat back up, the pencil dropping to the desktop before him. It was as if the mystical aspects of ki just wouldn't mash up perfectly with the scientific applications he was trying to apply to them. 'Fantasy' and 'Science' – it would take some kind of genius to be able to force the two together!

A knock on the door caught his attention. "Come in." He said, turning to see who it was.

"Just thought I'd bring you a drink and see how it's coming along." His wife smiled as she entered the room, moving beside him to set the cup on the desktop's coaster.

"Thanks." He said, sighing and reaching over to take a sip from it. "It's not coming along very well at all. I hate writer's block." He joked wryly.

"Don't worry, you'll crack that nut eventually." She assured him, rubbing his shoulders slightly as she sat down on the bed beside him. "You said it yourself the other day. 'This is hitherto undocumented phenomena', it makes sense that it'd be a little tough to figure out. I know you can do it though."

"Yeah." He admitted, then paused and quirked an eyebrow. "...'hitherto undocumented phenomena'? I'm not _that_ wordy, am I?"

Videl grinned as she stood back up. "Well, I paraphrased a little, but...sometimes, yes." She kissed her husband's cheek as he scowled kindheartedly. "I'm going to go back downstairs and see if your mother needs any more help. Dinner's just about done though, so you should save and come down too."

"All right, tell mom I'll be down in a bit." He said, picking up the pencil and leaning back in the chair, placing it back on his upper lip again. "Oh, and thanks for believing in me hon."

"Anytime dear." Videl said. As she stood in his doorway, she stopped and grinned mischievously. "Oh, and Gohan? Try not to work too late tonight so you can come to bed early."

"Huh?" He craned his head and looked at her upside-down. "What for?"

"Oh, your mom wants another grandchild. A boy this time I think."

"W-Wha?!" Gohan sputtered and accidentally kicked his desk with his foot slightly, falling backwards with his arms waving wildly before eventually landing hard on the floor with a thud.

Videl snickered and shut the door behind her, leaving her husband on the floor with his computer flashing a Toribot brand screen-saver. She'd pay for it later if Gohan thought to ask his mother about it, but for now? Totally worth it.

* * *

"Ooh, Chi Chi, whatever you've cooked smells great!" Goku said as he walked through the door to his home, with his two students (still rubbing their foreheads) trailing shortly behind.

Chi Chi sighed as she looked at the entryway and at her husband. "Goku-sa, how many times do I have to tell you to wipe your shoes off before coming inside."

"Sorry Chi Chi, but it just smells so good." Goku responded happily, seeming to giggle a little. His wife simply shook her head and grinned weakly.

"Well just remember that you don't get to eat _all_ of it." She insisted, looking past her husband to Pan and Oob. "It has to feed the whole family. I assume you're staying for dinner again, Oob?"

"Y-Yes. If it's not an imposition, Miss Chi Chi." Oob said, bowing his head slightly and becoming fidgety at being considered part of the family. "Thank you."

"No need to be so formal, you're like another son to me." Chi Chi laughed.

"Same here." Added Videl, who had just come back downstairs with Gohan in tow.

Pan however scowled and walked forward past Goku and Oob. "I think you should take away some of Grandpa's portion, after that cheap trick he pulled."

"W-What?!" Goku freaked out at the very thought. "You two wanted me to give you a challenge though, I shouldn't lose food just 'cuz it was too much!"

"That does seem a little harsh, Pan." Oob said, chuckling a little at the sight of his sensei's pouting face. Ever since having trained with Goku, Oob had developed a healthy appetite as well, but nothing could compare to the way Goku put food away.

"Fine, side with him." Pan sniffed, eying Oob with a slight frown. "I should be used to you being against me by now."

Oob blanched at the tone of her voice and seemed unable to respond. While Goku blinked vapidly and Gohan seemed to be suppressing a laugh, Chi Chi and Videl shared a knowing look.

"Pan, why don't you come help your grandmother and I finish off the cooking while the boys set the table." Videl intervened, putting her hands on Pan's shoulders and steering her into the kitchen. Chi Chi followed shortly behind.

"I think I can handle that myself, Dad." Gohan said, clearing his throat to finish breaking the tension. "You and Oob go wash up."

"All right." Goku said, still a little confused about what just happened, but he shrugged it off. "Let's get a little more fresh air while we wait too Oob. You look like you could use some." It was true. Goku couldn't tell why, but the boy seemed a lot paler than usual, and somewhat short of breath.

"Y-Yeah." Oob swallowed. "Good idea."

* * *

"It's just so...so infuriating!" Pan said, pouting and lightly pounding her fist on the kitchen table – it was still enough to make the thick wooden legs creak and threaten to break. "I've tried everything I can think of to make Oob notice me, but he's just so...so stupid!"

"There, there." Videl said softly, ruffling her daughter's hair as she and Chi Chi listened. "I'm sure Oob's picked up on it, that's probably why he acts so nervous around you."

"Then why doesn't he do anything about it!" Pan whined, burying her face in her arms. Her chin and mouth were hidden from view as she peered across the kitchen and continued to mutter. "If he doesn't like me back he could just tell me and get it over with."

"Men are scared when it comes to that kind of thing." Chi Chi said, though this was just an assumption on her part, seeing as she'd never been with anyone but Goku. "Especially when the girl is really strong-willed, and that definitely runs in our family." She added proudly.

"I still wish I knew for sure one way or the other." Pan said. "Then I could move on..."

Videl picked up on the tone of her voice and smiled. "You don't want to move on at all though, do you?"

"...No." Pan sighed again and buried her face completely in her arms. From within her muffled voice said "Why do guys have to be so annoying."

"It's in their nature." Chi Chi chuckled. "It could be worse. Your grandfather didn't even know what marriage was when he proposed to me."

"Huh?" Came both Pan and Videl's shocked voices. "You can't be serious?"

"It's true!" Chi Chi insisted. "'Thought it was some kind of food! And that's not the worst part. When he was really young he couldn't tell boys from girls, and he would - "

From the next room, Gohan had finished setting the table and could hear this whole conversation. He said nothing, but thought to himself that whether Oob felt the same way for Pan or not, there was certainly a rough road ahead.

* * *

"I wonder what Pan was so upset about." Goku mused as he did a few upside-down push-ups in the front yard, while Oob watched. "She's normally not so angry when she loses a sparring match."

Oob nodded slowly as he stared at the ground. "Yeah." He had a lot more on his mind about this subject, but he didn't really want to talk about it. Goku hardly seemed like the best person to bounce his thoughts off of either.

...He was all Oob had though. "I think it may have been something I said, or did." He sighed. "She hates me."

"Huh?" Goku looked over at Oob with a curious expression. "What makes you say that? Pan doesn't hate you at all." Goku pushed hard off the ground with his hands and landed back on his feet with an 'oof'. "In fact, she seems to really like you a lot."

Oob winced – maybe his master wasn't totally unobservant after all, just oblivious. "That's why she hates me, I think. Because she um...'likes' me...and I don't really know how to respond to that."

Goku seemed to take that in for a moment, and then a look of realization crossed his face. They weren't talking about Pan's feelings for Oob as a fellow student at all! They were talking about 'like' liking. Now that he thought about it, she did remind him of how Chi Chi acted when she and he were young, whenever Pan was around Oob. And look at where they had ended up.

"Well...I don't really understand this kinda stuff, but seems to me you'd be a good match for her." Goku said out of nowhere, prompting Oob to look to him in shock.

"Y-You really think so?"

"Sure!" Goku said, walking over and patting Oob on the back. "Look at how strong you are already, and Pan's got Saiyan blood – just think of how strong your kids will be!" Goku's eyes sparkled and it was clear that he was, again, completely missing the real point – he was only thinking about having super strong descendants that he could train even in his old age.

Oob's head hung low and he sighed, realizing he really couldn't talk to Goku about this stuff after all. He didn't understand the reality of the situation, the real issues that were bothering Oob.

"Dinner's ready!" Chi Chi called, and Goku immediately ran inside, leaving Oob to tread along behind him slowly.

* * *

"P'ss t' 'ish 'lease!" Goku said with a full mouth as he wolfed down more food off of his third plate than any of the others, even Gohan, had had on their first. It served as proof of how common this situation was that everyone at the table understood his mush-mouthed request well enough that they all reached for the plate to pass it to him. "'hank 'ou!"

"Goku-sa!" Chi Chi chastised while rubbing her forehead, feeling a migraine coming on.

Goku swallowed, a huge lump of food visibly sliding down his throat, and he let out a breath of contentment. "Sorry Chi Chi, it's just so good!"

"So, do you think you'll be able to make the party Gohan?" Videl asked her husband who sat right beside her, as she nibbled at her own food.

"At the rate this book is coming along, I probably shouldn't." He sighed, taking another bite of his ample, half-Saiyan portioned plate. "It is for Master Roshi after all."

"That pervy old man." Chi Chi said disapprovingly in thought of the old man. She never had really come to like him much, and blamed some of Goten's new-found antics on the old coot too. "I don't really see how he's deserving of such a big party anyway."

"But Kame-sennin says he's really going through with it this time." Goku said in-between another mouthful of food. "'Sides, he trained me the first time all the way back then!" Goku said as if this counted for everything. He had come a long way since Roshi's training, but if there was one thing Goku wouldn't forget – other than dinner time – it was his humble beginnings.

"I suppose..." Chi Chi admitted. "He just better not expect anything improper. You didn't promise him anything _this_ time, did you, Goku?"

"Mm? 'Ike what?" Goku asked through another mouth of food.

Sitting to Goku's immediate right, Oob sat eating his own dinner. Oob was especially interested in the upcoming party, as his exposure to Master Roshi had been somewhat limited. Goku had asked the old man to teach Oob a few basics back in the earlier days of his training, but due to Oob's strength it all had gone by so fast that Oob barely remembered much about the man other than his perverted nature. He was excited at the prospect of hearing more about the old days from everyone there though.

Pan, sitting to Oob's right, had other thoughts in mind. Maybe, with all of those people around, she'd finally be able to corner Oob where he couldn't get away, and get an answer out of him! Maybe she could get Bra to help out too, she was always good with things like this.

The party was still a few days away however, and Pan mentally scowled at the idea of having to wait even that long to find out. There was no harm in trying again now, was there? She casually took another bite of food, and 'accidentally' dropped some onto Oob's leg. "Oob, you pig, stop dropping your food all over the place!" She teased.

"Huh?" He looked over at her and then down at his pants, confused since he hadn't even been eating any of that dish.

"Here, let me get it." Pan offered sweetly and grabbed a napkin to pick it up with, a sweet smile plastered on her face.

The smile had the exact opposite effect on Oob however. His face burned bright red and he jumped up out of his seat. "T-Thanks for the dinner everyone, I hate to run but I almost forgot that my dad wanted me to till the fields, and it's getting late so I'd better get back there now, bye!" Somehow getting all those words out in one breath, he ran for the front door.

"H-Hey, wait!" Pan protested, jumping up to follow him. By the time she got to the door though, Oob had already flung it open and was soaring off through the night sky at a speed she couldn't keep up with if she tried.

As her family stared at the door in wonder, the girls' faces showing sympathy while the boys just looked confused, Pan's own face burned red, but with fury rather than embarrassment. She stomped violently on the floor and glared at the sky. "Dammit!"

* * *

**Advanced Author's Notes**

_As a fan of a lot of different authors and entertainment mediums, I always enjoy when the creators take the time to de-construct their work and show what went into various parts of it's creation, as well as listing any references someone might have missed. As such, I like to do the same myself, as a service to any readers out there._

_ - It seems like a common thing for writers to give Gohan and Videl a second child after another time skip (understandable, given that it almost always happens that way in the original series), so while I didn't go that route myself, I couldn't resist poking a little fun at it. Besides, a flustered Videl is funny._  
_ - On that same note, I briefly considered Chi Chi suggesting 'Gosan', which is the name of their second child in Kaboom's GT Revised, but opted not to at the last second, in favor of referencing Gozar. Some of you may remember him for the Alternate Reality DBZ Youtube series that pre-dates DBZ Abridged, but I also have fond memories of when he was a member of the old FUNimation Forums. We haven't talked in years really, but I wish him the best._  
_ - The concept of Gohan writing a book about how ki works is something I took from Dragon Ball Online, because it really made sense to me. Only Gohan is perfectly in an intellectual and fighting position to try and puzzle out a mystery like this one, and it seems like the perfect culmination of both sides of his character._  
_ - The line about how it would take some kind of genius to combine fantasy and science so well is my subtle poke at Akira Toriyama himself._  
_ - I originally wanted a line in there about how Gohan could show the completed book to Mr. Satan, and if he understood it, then clearly anyone could, but I just didn't have a good place for it. Maybe another time?_  
_ - And yes, I totally had to bring the baby joke back around on poor Gohan. Playfully mean Videl is also fun._  
_ - The 'Goku-sa' that Chi Chi uses to refer to her husband is from the original Japanese version of the anime. I believe someone told me it was her slightly hickish version of 'Goku-san', but don't quote me on that._  
_ - I feel the dialogue in both Pan/Oob discussion scenes could use some re-working as well, but I did have fun writing them._  
_ - Having Chi Chi mention Goku's old ineptitude in regards to romance really should have forewarned me of how hard the following scene was going to be to write. Originally, Oob was actually going to say his full reasons for being unsure about what to do about Pan, but I literally could not make it work when Goku was who he was talking to. It's still coming of course, but it'll be with a different character entirely._  
_ - I kept the meaning of the party for Roshi intentionally vague, as it'll be revealed soon enough. Oh, and for those that don't know, 'Kame-senning' is another way to say 'Turtle Hermit', and is what he's most often called in the original version._  
_ - Chi Chi's comment about if Goku had promised Roshi anything again was a poke at how he's offered naughty things to the old man in the past, heh._


End file.
